“What could you have done for him? Unarmed? As like as not you’d have run into one of the arsonists.” Cornelia came to stand beside her and survey the damage. There was little to see since the flames had died down. The courtyard had fallen back into night. Plumes of pale smoke billowed up into the darker sky. “Don’t worry. I’m sure Philip caught up with the ringleader. The fellow wasn’t in any shape to put up much of a fight. Sit down for a while.”
Reluctantly Hypatia seated herself beside the table on which a hunting bow and a handful of arrows lay. “I know hunting is popular with the aristocrats at the emperor’s court but I didn’t realize you had taken part, mistress,” she observed.
“Oh, I didn’t learn to use a bow in the imperial parks. The troupe I traveled with had an archer, a Persian by birth, whose specialty was a display of marksmanship. Called himself Xerxes. I learned enough of the art to play Artemis from time to time, when I wasn’t leaping from bulls.”
Hypatia had never been sure whether the mistress intended to be taken seriously when she spoke of her days as a performer. Was it a jest, or had she really entertained crowds in dusty city squares with reenactments of the lost art of Cretan bull leaping? Well, the late empress had worked as a circus performer in her youth, and her performances had been of a much lower sort. “The arsonists must have thought they were under siege when arrows started raining down from who knows where.”
“The second-floor windows offer a perfect shot at anyone in the courtyard. And I’ve never forgotten my skill.”
“I’m grateful you remembered.”
“Barely remembered. Xerxes would have been greatly displeased with me. I meant to put the arrow in that rogue’s ear.”
There was a commotion in the courtyard. Philip came in, closely followed by Peter and a stranger in a dirt-encrusted tunic.
Hypatia started toward Peter. Philip stepped in front of her, grasping her shoulders. “Thank heavens you’re safe,” he whispered, then in a louder tone, addressed Cornelia. “Mistress, we captured the ringleader and brought him back. I’ve ordered him bound. The City Defender will have a nice neat package waiting when he gets here. My men will be back soon with the rest, I’m certain.”
Hypatia removed Philip’s hands from her shoulders, shrugged out of his grasp, and went and put her arms around Peter. “Don’t run off like that again, Peter. I was afraid for your safety.”
“You shouldn’t have been. You keep forgetting I have military experience. I caught up with the villain. Julius here gave me some help. I insisted he have a cup of wine and something to eat.”
“It’s fortunate I found you when I did,” Philip said.
“Yes,” Peter shot back. “Our prisoner was getting heavy to carry.”
The dirty stranger, Julius, stood silent, looking uneasy.
Cornelia frowned at the man. “Aren’t you one of the men kept as slaves? I’ve seen you working in the fields.”
“Yes, mistress. I have been staying nearby since the master freed us. Not to sound ungrateful, but it is one thing to tell a man that he free and another to make that freedom legal.”
“Indeed. The documents are being drawn up in Megara and the master will sign them as soon as he returns. Not that we really expected any of you to come back for them.” She looked him up and down. “But why are you covered in dirt? Did you also fight?”
“No, mistress.”
Philip broke in. “And why were you on the estate in the middle of the night in the first place?”
Hypatia flared up. “Philip! What sort of question is that, considering what he’s just done for us?”
“Why are you so quick to trust him, when you know the whole city’s against you?” Philip snapped back. “He was obviously up to no good and now he’s trying to protect himself.”
“I’m sorry, Julius,” said Cornelia, “but Philip is right. No matter how helpful you’ve been I really must ask you to explain why you were on the estate, and covered with dirt no less, at this time of night.”
“And the answer had better be convincing,” Philip added, “because the City Defender will be here very soon and he can take you back to Megara along with the other wrongdoers.”
Julius shifted his feet, started to brush dried earth from his clothes, and stopped when he realized all he was doing was making the kitchen floor dirty. “Mistress, freedom is more valuable than wealth, so I will answer truthfully. I returned to the temple, secretly, to look for the valuables buried there. The overseer Diocles ordered us to dig there day after day. He claimed it was to prepare for reconstruction work, but we all knew better. Everyone’s been talking about the treasure from Corinth, and he kept warning us to dig carefully, in case we happened on anything of historical value.”
Cornelia shook her head. “Is there anyone in Megara who isn’t busy hating us or searching for riches? Goddess help us!”
Hypatia knew the mistress was not addressing Demeter. Whether the goddess could make this city full of Christians stop hating them, she couldn’t say. But at least Peter was safe and the arsonists would be brought to justice.
Chapter Thirty-one
“It was because of the demons, sir! Released swarms of demons, they did, what with all their digging round that pagan temple! Should have been destroyed a long time ago, if you ask me.”
The City Defender glared at the captured arsonist, a man named James. “Demons, is it? Explain yourself.”
“Sir, I am a law-abiding seller of fish. Well-known for the excellence of my wares, landed fresh each day. Don’t sell anything over a day old. Work hard, pay my taxes, attend church faithfully, and-”
“Yes, yes, a pillar of the community. But what has this to do with your criminal behavior last night?”
John, newly returned from Lechaion, was present as injured party as the City Defender conducted an arraignment interview. The arsonist was a rough-looking man, his upper arm and shoulder wrapped in bandages. The door of the whitewashed room stood open, allowing the mixed odors of the city to enter on the rectangle of strong sunlight lying across a mosaic floor depicting a pastoral scene.
But not enough sunlight to dispel the darkness of Megaran justice unfolding before him, John thought.
“And then there was those unspeakable rites they was doing in that ruin,” the seller of fish continued. “Orgies, sir. Blood. Torture. Bound to free demons. And as we all know, they can take over a man, hook their sharpened claws into our souls, cause us to do terrible things we would not dream of, could not dream of, as sober and responsible citizens.”
The man appeared ready to burst into tears at the thought of what acts he might be capable of doing while in his possessed state.
“And so those others with you, companions you say you cannot identify, were all possessed by demons, leading to the crimes committed last night?”
The accused man nodded violently. “And my wife is worried about what I might do next. What if I get up at night and murder everyone in their beds? What if I start selling fish I know to be unfit to eat? What if I suddenly attack Halmus, who has done so much for Megara?”
The City Defender raised his hand for silence. “So your defense boils down to the fact you and your fellow conspirators were possessed by demons forcing you to set fire to this man’s property and assault his servant?”
The fish seller nodded.
“I see,” the City Defender went on. “I have heard this defense before and there is much in what you say. Given your sterling character, I find it to be acceptable. I am accepting it on condition you consult your church on appropriate ways to free yourself of the demon possessing you. In addition I order you to make a large donation to the church. No compensation is due to the owner of the property under the circumstances. If he can collect it from demons, he is free to do so. You may go.”
The seller of fish bowed, mumbled his gratitude, and scuttled away.
John hid his consternation.